Deciphering a found sentence from elsewhere on the forums

Started by Mrrvomun, March 21, 2011, 06:11:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Mrrvomun

I came across this Eng'vi sentence somewhere else in the forums (I forgot where):

I can say all kinds of things fìlì'fyafa ulte txampxì suteyä ke tsun tslivam aylì'ut oeyä a fì'u sunu oer nìtxan.

From what I can decipher, he's saying:

I can say all kinds of things in this language and for the most part people are not able to understand these words that bring enjoyment to me.

Obviously loosely translated, as I'm not sure how some of the words fit in. 

Would someone be able to break down this sentence and explain some of the more complex stuff that's going on?  The main things I'm confused about are:
- the -fa at the end of fìlì'fyafa; not even Eana Eltu understands that
- whether the genitive suteyä is just a convention for use with txampxì, or is there something more going on here
- where the heck nìtxan fits in; can't figure that out for the life of me

Last but not least, sorry if this belongs in the Beginners section; I'd rather bore the experts than scare the newbies ;).  Do let me know or feel free to move this if it does belong there, I don't mind.
If I bork up what I'm trying to say, even if it's not relevant to the conversation, please DO NOT HESITATE to PM me, and you will get karma!

Eyawng te Klltepayu

#1
I made that sentence. It may therefore be complete gibberish. I often make mistakes.


i was trying to say 'I very much like that I can say all kinds of things with this language and the majority of people can't understand my words'
Please tell me if you see mistakes in a Na'vi post of mine. It's the only way I'll learn. :P

Kan oe trro fnivan lì'fyat leNa'vi frapoto a foru ke sunängu rel arusikx alu Uniltìrantokx.

wm.annis

Ok, here we go.

First, starting at the end, the ... a fì'u sunu oer nìtxan means "it makes me very happy that..." where the clause before the a fì'u is the thing making them happy.

  fìlì'fyafa ulte { txampxì suteyä ke tsun tslivam aylì'ut oeyä } a fì'u sunu oer nìtxan

1) fìlì'fyafa has the adposition fa as an enclitic (that is, attached at the end of the word it goes with).  So, "with/by-means-of this language."

2) txampxì — I'm not entirely sure about this.  I suspect it alone would be fine, but it is established that you can use the genitive in a "partitive" sense, that is, in the same places we use "of" in English with quantities and measurements.  So, "(the) majority of people."

3) Hopefully nìtxan is clear from the a fì'u explanation.  :)

Mrrvomun

Excellent, thanks and karma to the both of you. 

So -fa is just something to add to my notebook.  I should also stick a Post-It to my head reminding me that word order is flexible  ;D. Out of curiosity, where can I find a more in depth discussion of this enclitic?  Did I accidentally skip over it in NiaN? 

And, after hearing both of your sides on the topic, I can assure you, Eyawng, that my mistranslation is not because you wrote gibberish but because I am really just stumbling along in my studies XD

Irayo, ma mesmukan!
If I bork up what I'm trying to say, even if it's not relevant to the conversation, please DO NOT HESITATE to PM me, and you will get karma!

Sireayä mokri

Quote from: Mrrvomun on March 21, 2011, 09:32:54 PM
Did I accidentally skip over it in NiaN?

That's in 7.1, Adpositions. The first paragraph.
When the mirror speaks, the reflection lies.

Eyawng te Klltepayu

Irayo ma Mrrvomun sì ma wm.annis! It's good to know that one was OK!
Please tell me if you see mistakes in a Na'vi post of mine. It's the only way I'll learn. :P

Kan oe trro fnivan lì'fyat leNa'vi frapoto a foru ke sunängu rel arusikx alu Uniltìrantokx.